Future of the Left win Welsh Music Prize (Video)

Future Of The Left have been crowned the winners of this year’s Welsh Music Prize.The band picked up the award, which aims to establish itself as Wales’ answer to the Mercury Music Prize, for the album The Plot Against Common Sense.Held at Cardiff’s Angel Hotel, the announcement was made at an exclusive ceremony hosted by BBC Radio Wales DJ Adam Walton.The Cardiff rock outfit, whose uncompromising lyrics and belligerent sound impressed critics when it was released earlier this year, scooped the prize ahead of acts such as Kids In Glass Houses and Jodie Marie.

Future Of The Left have been crowned the winners of this year’s Welsh Music Prize.

The band picked up the award, which aims to establish itself as Wales’ answer to the Mercury Music Prize, for the album The Plot Against Common Sense.

Held at Cardiff’s Angel Hotel, the announcement was made at an exclusive ceremony hosted by BBC Radio Wales DJ Adam Walton.

The Cardiff rock outfit, whose uncompromising lyrics and belligerent sound impressed critics when it was released earlier this year, scooped the prize ahead of acts such as Kids In Glass Houses and Jodie Marie.

Guitarist Jimmy Watkins and drummer Jack Egglestone picked up the award on behalf of frontman Andy Falkous and bass player Julia Rusicka who were absent from the ceremony, and were evidently stunned by the decision: “We were shocked, you just go on autopilot and start panicking a little bit because we really weren’t expecting anything,” said Jimmy.

“Falco is the mouth of the band and he would have loved to have been here right now.

“I tried to make the point in my speech that at the end of the day we are a rock band and we do play rock music.

“We write some good songs but when it comes to picking songs for the live set we pick the loudest and fastest songs because we want to play a proper rock show.

“That said, to me this feels like a merit for a work of art. It means a lot to us as a rock band and as artistes, and also for Falco as the songwriter as well.

“It’s nice to get this kind of accolade not just for being loud but also for creating something that has struck a chord.

“People go to gigs and use words like rad and amazing but to get this means another level of acclaim.”

Renowned as one of the UK’s finest live bands, both Jimmy and Jack feel proud that the album had resonated with people.

“Live and recording are two separate entities,” said Jack. “Whatever people think of our live shows the recordings are completely different. We put a lot of ourselves into this, so it means a lot for it to be recognised.”

Recently hailed by the NME as the best rock band in the UK, the pair also felt the award finally signalled acceptance and recognition.

“A lot of the direction of the album lyrically I think helped us win the award, and came from Falco.

“We have to say that for that we feel we are accepting the award on behalf of someone.

“We need to make that point.

“That said, we are a unit, it’s the four people that make the whole.

“It’s nice to get the accolade for us all of us and cover us in the blanket of acceptance, before chucking us in the transit van of glory!”

The band have a tour of the US imminent and said they would travel Stateside in great heart.

“Who knows what it will mean for the future?” said Jack. “We’ve got a tour of America planned in a couple of week’s time and a few other things in the pipeline so we’ll see.”

Future Of The Left saw off a shortlist of 12 albums that included established names such as Los Campesinos! and Cate Le Bon, alongside emerging acts like Islet, Exit International and Bright Light Bright Light.

The titles encompassed a wide range of genres from rock and indie, to folk and electro, as well as bilingual releases.

Launched in 2011, when it was won by Gruff Rhys for his album Hotel Shampoo, the prize aims to celebrate Welsh music across a wide variety of genres, while establishing a reputation like the UK-wide Mercury Music Prize.

The Welsh Music Prize is the initiative of Swn Festival co-founders Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens and music promoter John Rostron, who said: “It was so exciting to see this year’s Welsh Music Prize Shortlist.

“It was a brilliant collection of albums which demonstrated just how strong the Welsh music scene is. The judges had such a difficult task finding a way to pick a winner from such a strong shortlist.

The decision was made by a select panel of judges, which included Reading Festival booker Neil Pengelly, Editor of NME Mike Williams and Media Wales’ arts correspondent Dave Owens.